A major ice storm on Saturday morning that followed a heavy snow on Friday night has knocked out power to approximately 12,000 EPB customers.
EPB officials said, "The power outage is due to heavy ice causing trees and tree limbs, as well as ice itself, to come in contact with electric lines.
"These outages are spread out over our 600-square-mile service area, but the north of us has seen the majority because of the colder temperature.
"As of 6 a.m., we have about 3,000 customers without power in Soddy Daisy, about 2,800 on Signal Mountain, and 2,500 customers out in the Bakewell/Sale Creek area. This is on top of outages in Hixson, Red Bank, Lookout Mountain, North Chattanooga, downtown, and Ooltewah.
"We have all crews working and are in the process of calling in more contract crews from areas south of us. We will work around the clock, as fast as we can, until all power is restored."
Go to the EPB website at www.epb.net/outages for the latest on area outages.
With many families without heat, the forecast for Sunday was a high of 41 and a low of 21 with a wind chill factor of 13.
Numerous heavy limbs and trees were brought down by the heavy ice.
Christina Siebold at the Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport said, "Most of our airlines had cancellations this morning, but the airport remains open and operational. As always, passengers are strongly advised to contact their airlines before coming to the airport to ensure their flight is still operating on schedule. All of the airlines' contact information can be found at www.chattairport.com."
As of 9 a.m., Saturday, the electric membership cooperatives (EMCs) are reporting approximately 5,000 customers without power, primarily in Rabun and Pickens Counties in north Georgia. Outages are due mainly to trees falling on power lines. Outages are expected to be restored by late this afternoon.
This is the latest bulletin from the National Weather Service:
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM EST /3 PM CST/ THIS AFTERNOON... ...WINTER STORM WARNING IS CANCELLED...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MORRISTOWN HAS ISSUED A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 PM EST /3 PM CST/ THIS AFTERNOON. THE WINTER STORM WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELLED.
* TIMING: RAIN...FREEZING DRIZZLE...OR DRIZZLE IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON.
* ACCUMULATIONS: NO SIGNIFICANT SNOW OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED. HOWEVER ROADS REMAIN HAZARDOUS ACROSS THE AREA...ESPECIALLY SECONDARY ROADS AND BRIDGES. SOME LOCATIONS IN THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU AND MOUNTAINS OF SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA MAY HAVE SUB-FREEZING TEMPERATURES...WHICH MAY CAUSE SOME LIGHT ICING ON ROADS IN THOSE AREAS.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
TRAVEL WILL LIKELY BE HAZARDOUS. MOTORISTS NEED TO BE ESPECIALLY CAREFUL ON BRIDGES AND OVERPASSES WHERE SLIPPERY SPOTS OFTEN DEVELOP FIRST.